The Show Must Go On
by Virgo Writer
Summary: Misty is directing a Water Show in the gym and she's asked Dawn to take the leading role as the underwater princess. But who will Misty ask to be her prince? Like you even have to ask. AAMR.
1. A Little Flirting Can't Hurt

I finally finished writing this. It was intended to be a oneshot, but it is more than 15,000 words long so we can forget about that. Only took me 4 months so pretty good right? Now it's just a matter of typing up the final chapter, but that's the easy part.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. If I did they would probably have to put the rating up – that shows supposed to be like a G or something right? Doesn't matter, the way I write they'd have to rate it R based on language alone and PG13 for everything else.

Ages: Ash = 15, Misty = 16, Dawn = 13 (I know she's probably younger relatively, but it seemed kind of weird having her at anything less than 13), Brock = 18 (this is why).

Rated: PG13 because I'm dealing with a teenage boy here so there are going to be some warm tingly feelings and cold showers. Only innuendo's people (which I think has got be one of the dirtiest sounding words ever but we'll just have to live with that).

Summary: Misty has finally been given the chance to prove herself to her lovely sisters in the one thing that matters most to them. She's about to direct, produce and co-ordinate her very own Water Show and she knows that Dawn would be just perfect as the star. But who will play her prince? Who else. AAMRN. A One-Shot in three acts plus encore.

Each act is named after a famous musical and each title based on a lyric from one of the songs. Extra credit to anyone who can name the song the lyric is taken from, but I think I've given you one hell of a hint in naming the musical for you.

The Show Must Go On – A Little Flirting Can't Hurt

**_Act One: How to Succeed in the Business without Really Trying_**

"I'd love to!" Dawn called from where she was talking on the phone. "That sounds great Misty."

_'Misty,'_ Ash thought questioningly, his head perking up at the sound of his best friend's name from where he had been mindlessly absorbed in a game of poker with Pikachu (the damned rat was winning, of course). _'Why would Misty be calling Dawn?'_

It had been only two weeks since they last saw her at the competition in Jubilife City. And as much as he loved to hear from her (and currently felt very put out by the fact that she was talking to Dawn and not him), and as much as he thought about her pretty much every single day, he generally restricted himself to calling her about once a month, emailing her once a week, and sending her two lengthy handwritten letters a year (one for her birthday and the other for Christmas). Said letters were barely comprehensible given Ash's handwriting, but it was the thought that counts, and they were always accompanied by a picture of Pikachu and several origami stars for her collection.

Misty had no idea of this resolution or the reasons behind it (neither did Ash to be perfectly honest) or how resolutely he held it. She did however feel its effects.

She had been pleasantly surprised the one week she had received not one, but two emails from her friend, only to be unpleasantly surprised the following week when she received no emails from Ash. It was almost ridiculous the amount of times she had checked and re-checked her emails that week, and if she had been brave enough she would have sent him a very strongly worded email reprimanding him for his callous neglect of her.

His scheduled phone call to Misty wasn't due for several days, and Misty usually left the calling up to him seeing as she could very rarely be sure of where he'd be in any given moment. Thus his surprise by her suddenly calling out of the blue, and talking to Dawn (and not him) of all people.

Pikachu chuckled at his master's sudden interest in the phone conversation, which caused Ash's cheeks to redden conspicuously. This only caused the electricity loving Pokémon to laugh even harder, calling Brock over to share in his mirth.

"Ash, Misty wants to talk to you," Dawn called lightly, interrupting the interaction between a scowling trainer and his giggling Pokémon.

"T-to m-m-me?" he stuttered, his cheeks burning brightly as he pointed to himself in wonder.

"Yeah," Dawn replied, looking at him curiously. "Is that strange?"

"N-no," he replied, still stuttering. "W-why?"

"No reason," she said, rolling her eyes and sharing a knowing look with Pikachu.

Ash took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He didn't know why he was so nervous. This was Misty after all; she was his best friend and the one person he could tell absolutely anything to. Well, almost anything . . .

Ever since Misty left he had started to think about things (Misty in particular) differently. He had expected to miss her, but not all the time like he currently did. And he had expected things to be awkward at first, but not to the extent where his stomach would do flip flops every time he saw her and he'd start blushing and practically forget how to breathe. He had expected things to change, but not like this.

It was her latest visit that had finally cinched thing for him – he had fallen in love with his best friend. He wasn't entirely sure when it had happened (although he suspected it was a lot earlier in their journey than he would like to admit to) or how it happened, but there was really no point denying it now. He was in love with Misty Waterflower.

"H-hey Misty," he said awkwardly into the screen upon seeing the object of his affections staring at him imploringly.

"Why are you nervous Ash? I'm the one with the favour to ask," she told him, annoyed that he appeared to be stealing her thunder. She had very much intended to come off all coy and nervous to try and trick him into agreement, but clearly that plan had been halted.

_'Think of a lie. Think of a lie,'_ he commanded his brain. He was always surprised of how quickly he was able to think on his feet when it came to Misty. "Because I know exactly the kind of favours you tend to ask," he replied astutely. "And I know I'm not going to like it, but if I don't say 'yes' you'll make sure I regret it."

"Well if you're going to be like that maybe I'll just ask someone else," she replied with a pout, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," he said far too quickly, forgetting to censor his thoughts. The thought of her going to someone else made his insides go all squirmy and that was not the slightest bit agreeable to him. "Just tell me what it is already," he offered tiredly, catching himself before he said anything more regrettable.

She frowned, staring at him incredulously. He noted, as he often did, that only Misty Waterflower could look that beautiful when she was mad at you. Her red hair seemed to blaze brilliantly as it framed her heart shaped face in a way that seemed to kill him, and her blue-green eyes seemed to swirl with the fire inside her. It was enough to make him _want_ to provoke her, even with the threat of her mallet looming worryingly near.

"Well . . ." she started, either satisfied by his response, or choosing not to care. "I finally managed to convince my sisters to let me direct my own Water Show . . ."

"And you want me to play the hero," Ash finished for her sarcastically. He was sure that would annoy her as he wondered how long she wanted to keep his water Pokémon hostage for.

"Well, yeah actually," she replied to his surprise, her voice sincere. "That's exactly what I called to ask you."

"Oh," he said, his face falling.

His mind wandered to Misty prancing around in one of her tiny little mermaid costumes and if nothing else, he knew he didn't want anybody else playing the hero for her. And pretend saving Misty wouldn't be so bad; in fact it would be kind of perfect. He would get to kiss her, and hold her, and touch her face – all things he longed to do – and all under the guise of the performance.

"Sure Myst," he said with a warm smile as he made up his mind. "Anything for you."

"Oh Ash thank you so much," she replied, her eyes lighting up with joy as she returned his smile. "Remind me that I owe you a hug when you get her. I've already sent the tickets. Bye Ash."

"Bye," he only just managed as she disappeared from the screen. His cheeks burnt bright red as he thought about what was waiting him in Cerulean and wondered if he really would have the courage to remind her if she forgot.

"I take it that you've agreed to be my co-star," Dawn smiled, seeming to misattribute his blush and being entirely confused by the goofy grin on his face.

"Waa!" he asked, snapping out of his reverie. "I thought . . ."

"She's directing, producing and co-ordinating the show," Brock answered for him, the blush and grin suddenly making complete sense to Brock, if not Dawn. "She's got posters to design, scripts to write, routines to choreograph, and tickets to promote. You can't expect her to star in it as well."

"I just thought . . ." he started, remembering the shows of the past when Misty had been the star. Nobody was as good a swimmer, or as graceful, or as good with Pokémon as Misty, but if she couldn't play the part her self, it made sense that she would choose Dawn who could be pretty personable and appealing enough to carry the show.

Dawn looked at him pityingly, guessing his thoughts. "I'm sorry Ash," she offered helplessly. "I swear she wasn't using it to trick you. She was probably just so happy about the whole thing that she forgot to mention it.

"You were her first choice, you know?" Dawn added, hoping that the piece of information might perk him back up. "She hadn't even considered asking anyone else."

"Yeah, well . . ." he sighed, his mood mildly improved. "We better get packing. Knowing Misty she probably hasn't given us that much time to get there."

* * *

"Ash! Over here," Misty called as she met her three closest friends (Ash, Brock and Pikachu) and their female companion at an airfield just outside of Cerulean. She ran up to them and wrapped her best friend in a warm hug.

Ash smiled awkwardly as he hugged her back, a blush crawling up his cheeks. He savoured her touch just as he had two weeks ago, only this time he let it linger a bit longer than he intended, needing a cough from Brock to remind him to let go.

"Hey guys," Misty said, sporting a blush of her own as she noticed their other friends standing nearby. "Brock, did you bring what I asked?" she added, looking sternly at the older boy.

Brock nodded, indicating a small brown bag in his hand. Misty pounced on it before he could pull it out of her reach, almost tearing open the bag to grab the treats inside and shove them in her mouth.

"I never understood girls and chocolate," Ash sighed as he saw Misty devour the bag of chocolates brought back especially from Sinnoh. According to Misty Sinnoh made the best chocolate.

"For that you aren't getting any Ketchum," Misty replied, her glare defeated by the small smudge of chocolate around the corners of her mouth. Ash was tempted to reach out and wipe it for her, but resisted the urge.

"There's none for me to have," he replied instead. "You keep that up, you can guarantee that no one will ever call you scrawny again."

_'Not that anyone would,'_ he added silently in his mind as his eyes wandered appreciatively over her form. Misty had certainly filled out, and he often wondered if she was even aware of this given that she still dressed almost exactly like she did in their travelling days in a short denim skirt, a yellow baby-tee which said something on it about 'gym leaders doing it better' (whatever 'it' was) and a pair of blue sneakers. She looked even prettier than he remembered, especially with her hair hanging down past her shoulders and framing her face.

She flicked his nose, almost playfully, stealing his treasured official league hat as she went. "Just for that Ash Ketchum, you can find your own way to they gym," she told him, her eyes sparkling in a way that told him that she wasn't really mad at him, but was serious about the threat. "The rest of you come with me," she said turning to the rest of the group and pulling a card out of her pocket proudly. "I have my permit."

Ash laughed, winking at her as he caught her eye. "Good luck guys," he told them. "If any of you aren't feeling particularly suicidal today, I wouldn't mind the company."

* * *

Ash thanked Charizard as he returned him to his pokeball. He couldn't wait to see the look on Misty's face when she saw him waiting on her front porch for her to arrive. Of course, it wasn't like he couldn't have gotten into the gym without her, but it was the effect he was going for more than anything.

He watched as an old blue car took a hard turn into the driveway and smiled to himself. She drove exactly how he suspected and, if Brock's remarkably white face was anything to go by, she wasn't going to have that licence for much longer.

"Dammit!" Misty cried, slamming her door and glaring at the boy in front of her. Togetic flew out to meet them at the sound of her mother's voice, only to be diverted when she noticed 'Daddy' standing nearby, floating instead into the dark haired boys arms.

"Toge! Tic tic tic!" the creature called joyously as it snuggled into Ash's side.

"Is Togetic always this happy to see Ash?" Dawn asked as she got out of the car. "The way she greets him, you'd think he was her long-lost father."

"More or less," Brock replied, some of his colour returning.

"As Togepei, she made an attachment to the first person she saw which was Misty, which makes her 'Mummy'," Brock explained. He finished lowly, making sure that Misty couldn't hear him, "and given what Misty was attached to, Ash became 'Daddy'."

"It's so sweet," Dawn sighed. "They're like a cute little family."

"I wouldn't say that too loud," Brock warned. "If Misty hears you she won't hesitate to kill you, and probably me. And Ash now that I mention it. It'll be a massacre."

"Follow me guys," Misty said sweetly before Dawn could make a reply.

Dawn wondered if Misty was really capable of what Brock was suggesting. But as she saw Misty whack Ash upside the head, she knew that Brock was wrong about Misty . . . she would never kill _Ash._

"Wow Myst," Ash awed as they walked into the auditorium where the performance would take place. "This place is even bigger than I remember."

"We did a few renovations," Misty admitted modestly. "It's the second biggest venue in Kanto."

"What's the biggest?" he asked.

Misty rolled her eyes at his denseness. "You of all people should know the answer to that Mr. Pokémon master," she told him, striding up to him and returning his hat to its rightful place atop his head.

Ash had to physically restrain himself from reaching out and touching her. Misty was looking remarkably cute today and even the slightest touch from Misty was enough to have him longing for more. The light brush of her fingers against his forehead as she returned his hat sent tiny shivers down his spine and made him want to hold her hand in his own for as long as she would let him.

"Here are your scripts," Misty said handing each of them a large fodder of paper.

"I thought you said it was a ballet, not a play," Dawn complained, struggling to keep the mass of pages in her arms.

"It is," Misty explained. "That thing is mostly stage directions and narration. Here," she said, adding four more pieces of paper to each of their piles, which was too much for Dawn who dropped her script to the floor with a loud 'thump'.

"There's only one major talking scene and that's the finale."

"Misty, I don't have any lines in the scene," Brock said, his eyes quickly scanning the pieces of paper Misty had handed them. "In fact, it says here that I die at the beginning of the scene."

"Right . . . um . . . I guess you can practice being dead?" Misty suggested.

"It's fine," Brock shrugged, a smile forming on his face. "I'm sure your sisters could find me something to do." Brock raced out of the room before Misty could say a word.

"Aren't you going to try and stop him?" Ash asked, his confusion obvious.

Misty shrugged indifferently. "Things could do with a bit of a clean and at least I know he'll do a good job. I had to throw away my favourite pair of shorts after one of their admirers had been fooled into doing Daisy's chores for the week."

Ash suspected they were probably his favourite pair of shorts too.

"Now the script," Misty said, drawing their attention back to their vital task. "Ash, you start."

"Serena, Serena," Ash read blandly, his eyes glued to the sheet of paper in his hands.

"Philippe," Dawn called weakly, falling into her character.

"Serena, what's happening?"

"I made a wish," Dawn explained, her voice heavy with the correct emotion. "Just one kiss was all it took to make it true forever. But I gave it all up for you."

"Serena, I . . ." Ash began, his voice lacking tone and depth.

"Ok, I cannot take anymore of this," Misty huffed, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation. "Dawn you're doing great, like I knew you would. But Ash . . . you suck!

"You need to put some emotion into it," she screamed. "Come on. The girl you love has just given up everything for you – that's got to make you feel something. Try again," she commanded, sitting him down and sitting herself opposite him.

"I gave it all up . . . for you," Misty told him meaningfully, reciting Serena's lines. She looked up into his eyes slowly.

"I-I don't know what to say," Ash replied gravely, his voice low and his eyes locked on hers.

"You don't say anything," Misty replied, breaking eye contact as she turned her face away from his. "This is it," she shrugged. "We have until sundown, and then I must go back to the ocean and I can never leave it ever again."

"But I love you," Ash told her, kneeling down in front of her and turning her face so he could look her in the eye. His brow was furrowed in confusion and his eyes clouded with concern. "I don't care about what you are or any of this. The only thing I care about is you."

"I love you too," Misty said quietly, her lips trembling and eyes glistening with tears. "But it's not enough."

"Let this be enough," he said as he cupped her face in his hands and drawing her ever nearer. He closed his eyes, gently pressing his lips against hers. She kissed back, softly at first and more passionately as the kiss continued. Ash had never been so happy in his life.

"Wow," Dawn gaped, applauding loudly. The two jumped away from one another as they became aware of the other occupants of the room. Dawn felt mildly guilty but decided it wasn't worth attending to.

"Pika!" the yellow mouse cheered, laughing to himself as his two best friends turned bright red.

"I . . . uh . . ." Misty started in a sort of daze. "That was . . . uh . . . really good Ash. Great . . . um . . . acting! Yes acting," she finished lamely.

"Um . . . I should probably go check on Brock," she said quickly, almost running out of the room.

"Yeah, great 'acting' Ash," Dawn snorted hardly able to contain her laughter. "I never would have taken you for such the thespian."

"I'm not really sure what that means, so I'm going to let is slide even though I'm pretty sure you just insulted me," Ash replied, coming out of his own daze as Misty hotfooted out of the room.

"Oh c'mon Ash," Dawn whined playfully. "You guys like missed like half the lines and you ad-libbed the rest of them. I'm not sure 'acting' is the right term, and if it is, you were acting out something completely different to what was on the page.

"That kiss wasn't even in the script," she added, laughing again. "How can two people be so obvious to the rest of the world, but not to each other?" she muttered to Pikachu.

"Yes it is," Ash rebutted, directing her to the script in question. "It's right on the last page. It says they kiss."

"No it say they _lean in to kiss_," Dawn countered, adding emphasis and pointing to the specific stage directions. "Then the lights dim and it ends giving the impression of people kissing without anybody actually having to kiss anybody." She made a face as she looked at him, "did you really think Misty was going to have us kiss for real?"

"You never know with Misty," he shrugged.

While the thought of having to play all lovey-dovey had been an incredibly pleasant one when he was labouring under the misapprehension that Misty would be the one playing beside him, such thoughts hadn't even occurred to him in the context of Dawn. It was a problem he had on many occasions; with all his thoughts consumed by Misty there just wasn't the brainpower left to deal with anything else at times.

Dawn rolled her eyes as Ash got that far off look in his eyes again. "Well I'm going to go find Misty," Dawn commented lightly. "You stay here and think about . . . whatever it is you usually think about when your eyes go all dreamy like that."

Pikachu giggled helplessly at his master as Dawn left the room. "Pikachu pika 'pika Pikachupi' pi," the electric mouse laughed, rolling around on the floor with tears in his caramel coloured eyes.

"I do not have an 'I love Misty' face," Ash growled as he was snapped out of his reverie. The scowl on his face played in contrast to his reddening cheeks which put even Pikachu to shame in their colour.

This just caused Pikachu to laugh even harder, his sides and face aching with joviality.

"I'd be quiet if I was you, or I'll let Misty use you to train her gyarados," Ash warned, his eyes narrowing at his prized Pokémon.

Well that certainly shut the Pokémon up. He stood up and crossed his tiny paws over his chest, making faces at Ash for ruining all his fun.

"Pika pi chupi pik pikachu chuchu pik 'pika Pikachupi' pi? Pi-kaka chu pika ka chu pika ka chu piii ka pik," he replied sulkily, turning his back on Ash.

This roughly translates to 'Why are you always so grumpy after someone catches you with your 'I love Misty' face? Stupid humans, you'd think he would be happy finally getting the chance to practically mate (for Pokémon have no real equivalent to a kiss in their own language) with the girl he's been in love with his whole life.'

Of course, all this was said too quickly as Pikachu exited the room for Ash to catch anything but the words 'Misty' and 'mate' causing him to turn a few shades brighter and his mouth to hang open in shock. The linguistical combination ran through his head making him feel all warm and tingly, and hot and flushed.

_'I need a shower,'_ he thought to himself with a sigh as he tried to put his mind to good clean thoughts that did not involve Misty's goldeen costume. His face began to heat up again as it became apparent that this was going to have to be a cold one.

~ INTERMISSION ~

Firstly, before anyone says anything, I know Togetic went to the mirage kingdom thing, but I like to use her as a plot device. Also I like to pretend the advance season didn't happen.

Secondly . . . well actually there wasn't really a secondly, other than for everyone to tell me what they think. Review.


	2. Loves a Test He's Too Young to Pass

Thanks everyone for the reviews. I realize that there may be a few pearlshippers (its the only way I can explain Dawn being more popular than Gary on my poll) reading this and so I should probably warn you that I'm a pokeshipper through and through, and that Dawn's presence is merely that of a necessary plot device. AAML FOREVER!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon. What I do own is a Pikachu pulshie but that has no bearing on character rights.

The Show Must Go On – Loves a Test He's Too Young to Pass

_**Act Two: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum**_

Misty sighed as she slowly made her way to the second floor guest room that housed a familiar Pokémon trainer, at least for the time being. It was, of course, the room closest to her own (a rather deliberate and obvious action according to Misty's sisters) which made her conclusion all the more obvious.

There was only so long that you could avoid a person for; that much was true. Especially when the person you are currently trying to avoid is staying in the room right next to your own while you prepare for a Water Show that you begged your sisters to let you put on just so that you had an excuse to see him. Misty considered her casting of Dawn as a stroke of pure genius, throwing the likes of Brock and her sisters off the scent.

After all, if all this was just an excuse to get cosy with the aforementioned Pokémon trainer, then the smart thing to do was to cast herself in the romantic lead and not his tween travelling companion. Subtle, right?

Misty had resolved that given their current situation, that an encounter of some kind was inevitable. She couldn't avoid Ash forever and so she fabricated an excuse to bring the anticipated first post-enamour meeting around as soon as possible, on her terms. This way she was prepared; she could control things and circumvent all that unnecessary awkwardness that would surely accompany an uncoordinated rendezvous.

Misty Waterflower was nothing if not rational, and this was clearly the most rational thing to do in her current circumstances.

"Ash?" she called as she knocked on the door.

"Yeah," the boy replied from inside.

With a sense of impending doom, Misty turned the handle and stepped in, reciting her well-rehearsed pretext as she did so.

"Ash, I need to . . ." she began, trailing off as her eyes lighted upon the object of her affections. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell agape, and she turned quickly on her heal, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

Did I mention that the second floor guest bedroom had it's own bathroom? No, I don't suppose I did.

She thought she heard him call her name as she left, but her mind was too full to think about it.

Misty sighed as she leaned back against the door, sliding down to the floor in a graceless, agile movement. She had mistaken his 'yeah, I'm here' for a 'yeah, come in' because he had mistaken her 'Ash, can I enter?' for an 'Ash, are you in there?' She hated the ambiguities of the English language – why couldn't people just say what they meant? She would know not to economise on sentence formulation in the future.

How was she to know he was practically naked in there?!

Another sigh erupted from her lips. She was having a terrible day, and this did not help at all. No, that was a lie – current events included, this was probably the most perfect day she could have imagined.

After two and a half days of going through ever item of clothing, jewellery and foot attire collectively owned by the Waterflower women, the four sisters had finally come up with something that they agreed made her look impossibly cute. The shirt 'gym leaders do it better', was Violet's – a gift from Lt. Surge that the youngest Waterflower was never able to adequately explain. The short indigo denim skirt (that Misty said barely covered her arse but was glad in the end she had relented on the issue) was Daisy's, offered in spite of the fact that the oldest Waterflower had only bought it that week and hadn't even had the chance to wear it herself. The touch of make up and hair styling was Lily's doing and very natural. The bubble printed high-tops were Misty's own, along with her socks and undergarments – she had drawn the line at Lily's offer to lend her a push-up bra.

Once properly attired, Misty's day got better as she went to meet her best friend, whom she adored in every possible sense of the word, at the airfield. As far as she could tell, her efforts had been appreciated, his eyes following her a little longer than was necessary – not that she was complaining.

After a lingering hug she was able to greet Brock and Dawn, whom she was also happy to see, just not in the same way. Or to the same extent.

That was followed by a bag of chocolate and some subtle flirting (well Misty thought so) and some harmless teasing with her best friend. She had almost hoped they would get into a fight, for the fun of it, but was happy enough with the way things went.

And then to top it all off – thus far – there was a kiss. A perfect kiss.

Misty was not unfamiliar with kissing, but that kiss was like nothing she had ever experienced before. His lips were soft, yet firm in staking their claim. His hands cupped her face lovingly, and strayed through her hair and his very touch seemed to electrify her. Everything about it felt heated and passionate, like it really was a kiss between two people in love about to be torn apart by their circumstances.

She was amazed that Ash had been able to find himself so caught up in the scene.

For Misty it was understandable. She had written the scene with Ash in mind, and pretended that he was there as she sounded the words aloud to make sure they had the right feel.

It was a very nice kiss. It was almost exactly like she had always imagined kissing Ash would be only several hundred times better. Although she had never let herself dream that it would become a reality, and now it had, it was perfect.

Well . . . almost perfect. There was, of course, the tiniest little fact darkening her elated mood ever so slightly; a small, almost thoughtless oversight on her part. Put simply, the fact that the very kiss that was perfect in its ability to send her heart racing and make her dizzy with emotions she couldn't even begin to classify – that kiss and everything that preceded it was an act, albeit, a very convincing one.

She had placed the words in his mouth and directed his actions. They were all the things that she wanted him to say and all the things she wanted him to do, and for a moment she had really believed it was he saying and doing them, and not just her imagination.

For a moment she believed that it was Ash, and not Philippe, proclaiming his love for the girl of his dreams. Philippe's words were meaningless. He was nothing more than a character she had created who was like Ash in every way that mattered.

She had been fooled by her own beautiful words carried off in a very Ash way. He was still clumsy and a little awkward and didn't think before he acted, but he was also gentle and passionate in both his words and actions in a way that she hadn't been able to capture on paper. She loved every part of him in every way.

_'I'll have to teach him not to be so awkward,'_ Misty thought jealously, thinking about how she would direct the role. She would keep those parts of Ash to herself and let Serena have a suave and charming prince that only resembled Misty's own prince in the most superficial way.

She sighed happily in spite of the disheartening thoughts marring her perfect day. Closing her eyes she could picture him standing there, and even though she had only glimpsed it for a couple of seconds, it was not an image she would easily forget.

His damp locks were tamed, weighed down by the inevitable outcome of osmosis. Clear droplets of water clung to his skin as though unwilling to let go. His bare chest and arms were evidence of years of hard training and constant travelling. She wondered where she had even found the will to look away.

Ash Ketchum had stood before her in nothing more than a creamy white towel, leaving very little to the imagination. Misty had an excellent imagination, and it would probably be fuelled by that very image for years to come.

Misty ran her fingers exasperatedly through her hair. She didn't know why she did this to herself. There were lots of cute, funny and most of all, _mature_ guys in Cerulean – boys that actually liked her and thought of her as a girl – but she had to go and fall for the one who probably still thought of her as the redheaded tomboy who quite literally fished him out of a lake.

He had gotten cuter and taller over the years, but she knew she had been in love with him since so long ago that it hardly mattered. She loved him when he was an annoying shrimp and the fact that he was now tall and gorgeous did nothing to deter her. What mattered was that he was still the same in all the ways that mattered.

His eyes were the first thing she had fallen in love with. They were warm and determined and always full of compassion. They were the most unique shade of dark chocolate that she had never been able to match, spliced with shards of amber. Those eyes never changed.

For a moment, as he had pulled her face towards his, she had thought she saw something else in them. She could have sworn that she had seen that emotion before, and like those times, she couldn't identify what it was but it seemed familiar in a strange way and sent her heart pounding in her chest.

_'If only . . .'_ she thought to herself, but trailed off as a strange click distracted her from her thoughts.

Suddenly without warning she was sprawled backwards on the floor, the door she had been resting upon suddenly pulled away from her.

"Misty!" Ash called in surprise, his eyes widening as he stared down at her, his hand resting on the door. For a moment he was taken aback with surprise, but he quickly overcame that and bent down to help her up. "I'm so sorry Misty," he said, blushing madly.

Misty frowned to herself as she tried to discern what exactly it was that he was apologising for, once again cursing the use of short hand in modern English. There were a whole plethora of things he could be sorry for and she wasn't really sure that she liked him being sorry for any of them.

Was he apologising for their kiss earlier? Was he apologising for being practically naked when she entered the room? Was he apologising for causing her to fall back just now?

She didn't think any of them really warranted an apology. The later two certainly weren't things that he could be blamed for, and the first was something she had played as much a part in as he had. She had wanted him to kiss her for longer than she could remember, and it would break her heart if that were what he was apologising for.

Instead of asking what he meant, Misty carefully crafted her own ambiguous response that could easily be taken to refer to whichever action he meant it to apply to. "It's ok," she said, turning her head so she could smile at him. "It's not your fault."

He blushed again, his arms dropping from where they had been placed on her shoulders to help her to a seating position. "Wha- What . . ." he stuttered, his eyes darting around nervously.

_'Please don't ask me why I'm sitting here,'_ Misty begged silently to herself. She knew she didn't have an explanation for her behaviour just now and hoped he wasn't expecting one. She tried not to smile at his nervousness – it was incredibly cute and endearing.

"What were you saying earlier?" he offered lamely. Misty couldn't help but sigh with relief. "You said you needed something."

"I need to take your measurements," she explained, picking up the piece of paper that lay on the floor with an outline of a figure drawn on it along with a measuring tape and a pencil. "For the costume," she added.

"Oh, ok," he said simply standing up and offering his hand. Misty blushed as she took it in her own, trying not to react to the warmth that seemed to engulf her body a she did so.

"Um . . . just stand there," she directed as she put her pencil and paper down on the dressing table. She tried to decide where she wanted to start, that is, where was the safest place to start.

Shoulders were a good starting point; she could do that from behind. "Just relax," she told him as she stood behind him with the tape measure pressed against him. She felt his muscles move under her touch and was grateful for her position when she felt her cheeks start to warm.

"Sixty-eight centimetres," she dictated from her tape measure as she wrote it down. She suppressed the urge to swoon.

She moved on to the length of the sleeve, pressing one end of the tape measure to his mid neck and the other to his elbow. Her knuckles brushed against his jaw line, and she could have sworn she felt his body almost tremble under her touch.

_'Shit,'_ she thought to herself as she awkwardly measured around his bulky over shirt. She couldn't believe that it hadn't even occurred to her until now, cursing herself for being so oblivious.

"Ash, do you mind taking off your shirt?" she asked him, holding her breath.

"Sure Myst," he replied, a smile evident in his voice as he removed the over shirt. Sometimes she wished he wouldn't be so goddamn obliging.

She screwed up her face as she spoke the words, a groan escaping her lips – she couldn't help but cringe, squeezing her eyes shut as though willing the words away. "And the other one," she added.

"Sh-sure," he stuttered, doing as she commanded.

If only she had thought her plan all the way through she would have recalled that you can't take measurements in bulky loose fitting clothing. She needed him in something form fitting and snug, or nothing at all. This was so wrong.

In spite of all her rational abilities Misty did have a flaw in her logic. Once she found herself at a seemingly desirable conclusion, she rarely took the time to question it further and the result was almost always bad. She wondered why she even went to the trouble of trying to think things through when she ended up making decisions almost as bad as Ash's impetuous choices.

Misty moved around to Ash's front side, realizing that she couldn't put it off any longer. She refused to make eye contact, instead gazing intently at her tape measure as she wrapped it around the base of his neck. She stepped away to write the measurement down.

"Arms up," she commanded, still refusing to make eye contact. Stepping close, she put an arm around each of his sides in order to thread the tape measure all the way around. Her skin brushed against his naked chest, sending her heart racing. "Ninety-six," she said, musing silently to herself about how perfectly proportioned he was.

Then placing one end of the measuring tape on his shoulder and pulling it down to his mid-thigh she measure what would be the length of his jacket.

She moved to his side so she could measure his bicep. Given the cut of the shirt, she wasn't entirely sure that was necessary, but she was kind of interested to find out while she had him here.

Next was the waist, another of them that she wasn't looking forward to. She couldn't help but notice that his abdominal muscles were well defined and tensed at her touch. She let herself wonder if this was awkward for Ash in the same way it was awkward for her. "Eighty-three."

"Oh great," she muttered lowly to herself as she realised which measurement she was working her way towards. She bobbed down in front of him, nestling the tape measure against his but and praying that nobody walked in on them in that moment. She could just imagine what Brock or her sisters would have to say about her position.

"Ninety-two," she said, pronouncing his hip measurement. She then measure from his waist to his knee and his waist to floor, both being useful measurements to her purpose. Then she measures around his knee.

"Height?" she asked, checking her drawing. She would guess he was getting attractively close to six foot.

"Five ten," he answered, pulling his shirt back on. He assumed she was done with him given that she had stopped measuring. That put him at about an inch taller than she was, and still growing.

"In centimetres," she suggested, pulling a face. "The metric system is here Ash, and it's about time you got use to it."

"About one eighty," the boy replied after a few moments thought.

Misty glanced down at her figure, making sure she had everything that was required. Her eyes trailed down until they stopped abruptly on a neglected measurement. A single word escaped her lips.

"SHIT!" she hissed loudly.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Ash asked, surprised to hear her curse so loudly.

She ran out of the room without a word. She raced down the corridor in search of Brock. Misty couldn't believe that she had forgotten the inseam, and nothing in this world could make her get close enough to take that measurement.

"Brock, I need you to finish taking Ash's measurements for me," Misty told the older boy, handing him the tape measure and making no attempt to explain the situation further. "It's on the dressing table."

She didn't say anything more, but followed Brock back to Ash's room, and waited outside for him to finish. She couldn't help but listen in on the boy's conversation.

She heard Brock chuckle as he checked her figure. She knew he would understand why she COULD NOT take that measurement.

"She's _forgotten_ to take your inseam," Brock chuckled, stressing the sarcasm on the word 'forgotten'.

"Ok," Ash shrugged, not really understanding the significance. Ash had always been a stranger to sarcasm. "Am I alright like this?" he asked.

Misty blushed brightly, thanking every god known to man that she was not in the room. Now was not the time to think about him removing his pants.

"You're fine," Brock replied. "Do you dress to the left or the right?"

"Uh . . . right," Ash said, blushing himself, perhaps now understanding why Misty had gotten out of there so quickly.

_'Way more than I needed to know,'_ Misty thought to herself outside, cringing at the revelation. She was starting to realize why eavesdropping was such a bad thing.

_'Leave,'_ she tried to command herself but her legs wouldn't move. Something seemed to be compelling her to stay put.

"Do you think she's mad at me for earlier?" she heard Ash ask. Her heart started racing as she realized that she was now eavesdropping on an even more private conversation. He was talking about her, she knew that much, and now more than ever, she couldn't leave her post.

"Why would she be mad?" Brock replied in his sage, older brother fashion.

"Well . . . because she's Misty," Ash responded. Misty fumed. "Not like that," he added after what she had assumed was some kind of look from Brock.

"What I meant was because, you know, she likes all that love and romance stuff, and . . . I go and steal a kiss when she least expects it," Ash explained.

"What's not romantic about that?" Brock asked, mirroring Misty's own thoughts. As far as she had been concerned that kiss had been the epitome of romance in her life thus far. She felt bad that she hadn't given Ash enough credit when it came to 'love and romance stuff' – he seemed perfectly capable given a few helpful pushes.

"Maybe, but she doesn't want me going around kissing her when I bet she has about a hundred guys just begging to kiss her," Ash said, sounding almost sad from Misty's vantage point.

She wished she could see him right now, because then she might have a chance at knowing what he was thinking. His eyes were always so expressive that he could barely hide anything, especially from herself and Brock who had known him long enough to be able to read most of his expressions.

Although there was that one emotion that had flashed through his eyes earlier that she hadn't recognised. She had wondered for a moment if it was something that had developed in their time apart, but at the same time it was almost familiar, as though she had seen it before somehow.

Ash's words seemed to draw her away from her thoughts. "I just don't want her to think that I make a habit of going around and kissing pretty girls, you know," the boy sighed while Misty beamed inwardly – he thought she was pretty!

"Was that your first kiss?" Brock asked.

The room was silent and Misty could guess the answer. She was surprised by the revelation. As a pair of star crossed lovers once proclaimed, 'he kisseth by the book'. For someone who had never kissed a girl like that before, he certainly was no slouch in the kissing department. Misty smiled to herself at the thought of what a little practice might accomplish.

"It's just . . . it's Misty, you know?" Ash sighed finally after a long silence.

"I know," Brock said understandingly.

Misty screamed inwardly. What did he know? Misty didn't know and she wanted desperately to know because she sensed that whatever it was that she didn't know was somehow vitally important in some way or another. She briefly wondered if she was the only one that didn't know but assumed that Dawn was probably equally oblivious.

"Boys," she muttered to herself as she finally found the strength to push her self away from the wall and leave off her eavesdropping for the day. She had heard more than she should have and that would be enough.

After all, she didn't have time to be skulking around trying to listen in on private conversations – she had a show to put on and if Ash's first attempt was anything to go by, they were going to need _a lot _of practice.

* * *

"Dawn! What the HELL do you think you're doing?" Misty screamed from the side of the arena. "It's left pivot left right turn pivot, not left right pivot left turn pivot. Start again from the beginning and for christ's sake Ash, control Totodile. He keeps going left when everyone else is going right!"

It had been fine for the first few days, but as they slowly crept closer and closer to the date of performance, Misty's temper seemed to escalate.

Misty cringed as she saw the look of sadness fill the crocodile like Pokémon's eyes. Feeling guilty she quickly ran to the edge of the tank and called Ash's totodile towards her.

"I'm sorry, Totie," she apologized, gently caressing the Pokémon's reptilian skin. "I'm just stressed. Am I forgiven?"

Totodile nodded, doing a quick flip to show that there were no hard feelings between them. His friendly nature wouldn't allow him to stay mad with anyone, especially Misty who was clearly his masters favourite.

"Where's our apology?" Ash asked as he swam to the edge of the tank to see her, an impish grin lighting up his brown eyes.

"Hmmph," Misty replied, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "Totodile did nothing wrong," she said as she turned her knows in the air. "It's not his fault that his trainer is lacking in ability."

"Awww Myst, that hurt," he replied. Misty just responded with another 'hmmph' trying to ignore the fact that she practically melted every time he said her name like that.

"Misty, do you mind helping me out?" he asked. Misty turned to see him at the waters edge with his hands raised towards her. She sighed, biting her lip to stop an enamoured smile coming to her lips at how adorable he looked.

"Can't do anything without me, can you Ketchum?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, as she grasped his hands in her own.

She felt electricity race between their connected hands and her heart began to race. She felt a tug on her hands, and then she felt herself pulled forwards, head first into the pool.

She should have seen it coming. She should have recognised that look in his eyes – it was pure evil and she had seen it plenty of times before, usually right before he did something along these lines. She should have known by the small curve at the corners of his mouth and the way he widened his eyes so as to imitate the picture of innocence.

"What did you do that for?" she spluttered as her head rose above the surface of the pool, glaring at her best friend for obvious reasons.

He smiled that goofy grin of his that made her love him and loathe him at the exact same time. "You looked like you needed to cool off a bit," he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders even though they were mostly covered by water.

Misty swam towards him, getting ready to throttle him once she got near enough, but before she could Ash had encircled her in his arms pinning her to him so she couldn't cause him any harm. Although she tried to struggle out of his embrace, she knew it was futile – he was stronger than she was now and to be perfectly honest, she was only mildly annoyed by their current position. Any efforts to escape were half-hearted at best.

"Misty it's gonna be great," he told her sweetly, his voice low. "It'll be perfect. There's nothing to worry about."

Misty smiled back at him, her heart almost stopping as his words touched her heart. She felt all her stress melt away as she hugged him back, wrapping her arms around her best friend's neck.

"Thank you Ash," she whispered near his ear, her eyes tearing up slightly. "I really needed to hear that. Especially from you."

She pulled back and couldn't help but notice the brush that crawled onto his cheeks. Her eyes narrowed as she considered it.

What did that blush mean? Did it mean the same thing for him as it did for her? Did her touch cause his heart to race the same way that her own heart would race? Did her smile brighten his days the way hers were brightened by his?

Could Ash feel the same?

Without even thinking Misty could feel herself inching forward, bringing herself nearer to Ash. Her heart was racing again as she lowered her lids. She could feel his breath against her lips – she didn't remember being that close when she closed her eyes, was he moving closer too? Just a little closer and they'd be kissing once again.

Two kisses in two weeks – they were making excellent progress.

But it was not to be this time. Before they could close that last iota of space between them, a loud splash from beside them ruined the moment, and the two jumped apart rather than sealing them together with a kiss.

Being eager to celebrate his master obvious success, Totodile and jumped into the air and performed a rather impressive flip that Ash would probably have been disappointed that he missed if he weren't so busy being disappointed about their interrupted kiss. Both humans silently cursed the display.

Misty sighed. She guessed that she and Ash just weren't meant to be. There always seemed to be something in the way.

At first it was her pride, and then just when she was ready to confess her feelings to Ash, her sisters had dragged her back to the gym and far away from him as she could possibly be. And then she had tried to tell him at the Togepi Festival, but there was too much going on there to bring it up.

She had tried the few other times she had visited Ash in Hoenn but even they were spoiled by May and Max always hanging around trying to get either her or Ash's attention. She had even gone so far as to confide in Brock so as to get him to conspiratorially get the siblings out of the picture so she could have Ash to herself, but when the moment had finally come, she had chickened out.

Jubilife was intended to be the latest setting for her attempted confession, but when she got there, the moment didn't seem just right. Something seemed to hold her back, but it seemed like it was for the best that time, as though there was a reason for her to wait.

And now . . .

Everything inside her was telling her to go for it. Something in his eyes made her feel brave. Something in his touch seemed to urge her to continue. But something else kept getting in the way – something outside of the two of them.

It was as if the universe didn't want them to be together, at least, that was how it seemed to Misty. Like any teenager who was being kept from the thing she wanted most, she felt as though it was all some cruel plot to ruin her life in the worst possible way.

Teenagers are melodramatic.

"I think that's enough practicing for tonight," she told everyone with a sad smile. "You guys should all go get some sleep. We've got one hell of a show to put on tomorrow."

Misty quickly swam to the edge of the pool and pulled herself out before anybody could say anything. She didn't want them to see the tears that were forming in her eyes, or have to explain them to any of her friends – especially Ash.

This was the cruel hand fate had dealt her. This was the future she would have to face.

_'Ash is not my destiny,'_ she thought sadly to herself, tears breaking free of her hard façade.

Oh Misty. How could you be so wrong?

~ INTERMISSION ~

Oh the humanity! I suspect I wasn't the only one sniggering through the measurements.

Next chapter is the exciting conclusion, that is, the performance!

Review!


	3. Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind

Thanks again for all your reviews. Now this is the big dramatic chapter - the performance. There is a sort of epilogue to follow it, but I'm having trouble getting it quite right so it might be awhile before it shows.

More awkward moments will follow . . .

And a quick reminder. In the play, Ash is playing Philippe and Dawn is playing Serena. Brock is the sea witch.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Pokemon, but while on the subject, has anyone else noticed that the dubbers seem to boost up the poke hints and reduce the pallet ones. 4Kids are such Pokeshippers its just not funny. Or they may be homophobic . . .

The Show Must Go On – Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind

_**Act Three: We Will Rock You**_

The Water Ballet was a simple story of love and sacrifice.

Serena, a daughter of the sea, falls in love with a Philippe, a prince of the earth. The sea witch grants her a wish in return for a despicable favour and she is made human, provided that she doesn't come in contact with the sea. Serena and Philippe fall in love, but when Philippe's life is put in danger she must sacrifice the life she was given in order to save her love from a watery death.

It was a beautiful story and it had been one of Misty's favourites since she was a child, but the audience would never know this. This is not the tale that the audience would eventually be told, but it does serve as a basis for what resulted.

Misty knocked on the dressing room door to check on her actors.

"Oh Misty thank god you're here," Dawn said as she opened the door, pulling Misty inside. "Major costume breakdown."

"But it looks fine," Misty said as she surveyed Dawn. To make things more moveable, Misty had designed the fish part of the costume as a pair of fitted trousers with fins up the side, topped with a cream and blue bodice decorated with seashells. She couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"Not me," Dawn explained. "Ash."

Misty sighed. She should have known better.

"Ash I'm sending Misty in," Dawn said to a drawn curtain.

"No I'm fine," the boy spoke back, sounding incredibly pained. "I think I've almost got the zip."

"Ash, stop being so stubborn and let me help," Misty said as she walked into the makeshift cubicle to find Brock and Ash desperately trying to squeeze the boy into a pair of black pedal pushes and a pale blue jacket.

"What on earth are you two trying to do?" she asked, staring at the pair incredulously.

Ash blushed. "The costume doesn't quite fit," he said, embarrassedly, trying to hide behind Brock. Misty was the absolute last person he wanted to see him like this. "Are you sure you took the measurements right?"

Misty nodded, rolling her eyes at the two. "Of course it doesn't fit," she told them. "That isn't your costume. That's Daisy's old costume.

"This," she said, indicating to a bag hung up on the far side of the dressing room, "is your costume Ash. It should fit perfectly."

He and Brock both blushed brightly as she shook her head. "Get all the pieces on and I'll help you with the buttons," she told him. "They're a bit tricky."

"Why me?" Ash asked as Misty walked out and closed the curtain behind her.

"Could have happened to anyone?" Brock tried to offer helpfully, but it was clearly no condolence. "Hey, didn't I tell you she wouldn't have messed up the costume like that? Misty was very thorough in her measurements."

"I heard that Slate," Misty called through the curtain.

"Better hurry," Brock laughed, his voice low so Misty wouldn't hear. "You know she's getting mad when she starts using last names."

Brock quickly helped Ash out of Daisy's costume and into his own. He was now dressed in a pair of black knee high boots, cream breaches, a royal blue sleeveless jacket with a gold trim, a loose white shirt that only went to his elbow, leather cuffs, and a pale blue cape fastened by a gold chain/medallion. The two stopped as they got to doing up the jacket.

"What the . . .?" Brock said as he noted the strange clasps located on the jacket.

"Are you done yet?" Misty called through the curtain.

"Uh, yeah," Brock said, "I guess you better get in here."

She shook her head at them. "I told you they were tricky," she said, rolling her eyes. "Although it would have been fine if you two hadn't wasted so much time trying to get into Daisy's pants." She stopped as she realized just what she said; there was a distinct sense of déjà vu there.

She stepped up close to Ash and started fiddling with the top button. Ash blushed as he felt her fingers brush against his skin. Her fingers were cold, which he knew for Misty was a sure sign of nervousness.

He stopped her in her actions by taking her hands in his; completely forgetting that Brock was still in the room. He smiled at her in what he hoped was an encouraging way as he let the heat transfer from his hands to hers. She returned the smile with a grateful one of her own.

He dropped her hands and let her return to buttoning up his shirt. What probably would have taken him and Brock an hour, took her only a matter of minutes. The clasps were designed more for decorative purposes than function, and so it took a bit of thinking to get your head around their lack of true utility.

"There," she said as she stepped back, her work done. "Now you look the part."

Ash smiled at her again. With Misty so near to him, he was starting to feel like a Prince, or at least as lucky as one. There was something about Misty that nobody else came close to.

"How about you Brock?" she asked, turning to their older companion. "Any problems with your costume?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders in what appeared like layers, upon layers of seaweed. "Nothing, well, other than the fact that I can't tell if I'm supposed to be a girl or a boy," he replied.

"It's meant to be like that," Misty answered. "It's androgynous.

"Well if there's nothing else I'm needed for here, I'm going to head out front," she said as she turned to make sure they were all properly prepared for the performance. "Good luck," she said, giving each of the boys a peck on the cheek and Dawn a quick hug before heading off to her administrator duties.

Dawn groaned. "He's got that look again," she sighed as she turned her back on the boys so she could check her hair and makeup in the mirror.

"It's just . . ." Ash began, ignoring Dawn. "I've got to tell her. Misty's incredible, and she doesn't even know it. I've got to let her know."

"Tell her what?" Brock asked knowingly, smiling at what he hoped was the revelation he'd be hoping for all this time.

Ash smiled, looking at the older brother type friend who had been with him so long Ash was sure that Brock had probably worked it out before he had even realized it himself. "That I love her," Ash said, a strange warmth coming over him at finally speaking the words aloud. "I love Misty Waterflower," he proclaimed, a wide smile overcoming his face.

"Well thank god for that."

* * *

"You ready Pikachu?" Misty asked, turning to her self-appointed first assistant, who reassuringly raised his fingers in a 'v for victory' pose as a sign of encouragement. "Alright," she sighed, taking in a deep breath. "Time to dim the lights."

The low murmur of the crowd as they awaited the performance hushed almost immediately as the entire venue was enveloped in darkness. In the darkness a tiny light could be seen glowing and growing to spread as Misty's voice rang though the arena.

_"This is the story of a daughter of the sea and prince of the earth, and how they fell in love,"_ she said slowly and precisely, parsing to emphasise her words. _"And like all good love stories, it began with a war and the drawing of battle lines etched in the coastlines between the land and sea. The war itself is unimportant for our purposes, although it was long and fought for higher causes – for these purposes we are only concerned with the rift it built between those that inhabit the earth and those that inhabit the oceans, forever dividing the two."_

A low chord built up in volume, the intensity of the light following its pitch and illuminating the tank in the centre of the venue. Around the edges were an array of water Pokémon that dived gracefully into the pool in a cannon sequence, met by the water bound Pokémon and swirling together under the surface.

Suddenly the low, sombre note was replaced by the cheerful sounding of horns and wind instruments belting out a familiar tune with a Jamaican beat.

_"The seaweed is always greener_

_In somebody else's lake . . ."_

A male voice sang along cheerily to the tune played by the orchestra, and the crowd began to the cheer at the tricks that the water Pokémon performed. Some of them performed inspiring leaps, dancing out of the water, while others combined water attacks with various other techniques and made incredible displays of talent.

About halfway through the song, Dawn – as Serena – swam into the fray, interacting with the various groups of Pokémon as she had been directed. The scene was intended to show that Serena adored her undersea life and does not desire a life above the water. Misty hoped that the medium would be sufficient to give the audience that impression.

As the song ended, Gyarados swam into view leaving the audience to gape and wonder at his presence. The Pokémon, Dawn and the mermaid extra's that had now joined her in the water all bowed at him respectfully, indicating to all that he was their leader.

_"The King of the Sea was a stern, but powerful ruler,"_ Misty's voice intoned. _"He ruled his domain, commanding the waves and currents and all that resided below them. He was adored by his subjects, well, all of them but one."_

This was the cue for Brock's entrance as the sea witch. The lights turned a shadowy blue and the music turned sinister to enhance the mood as Brock entered followed by two tentacruel. Misty wasn't exactly pleased with having to cast her tentacruel as the villains in this piece, but apparently she was the only person in existence who considered them adorable and they were exactly the kind of Pokémon that you would expect to flank a sea witch.

The trio swam in slow, shark-like movements, taking a wide perimeter in order to display themselves to the entire crowd before presenting themselves to the King of the Sea. Gyarados snarled at them and despite himself, Brock looked unperturbed.

_"**You dare to show yourself to me after what you did?**"_ a voice asked, representing the words of the Sea King.

_"**My Lord,**"_ Brock's voice replied, pre-recorded and his lips moving to match the apparent movement. His tone was almost amused as he replied, _"**I know not of that which you speak.**"_

_"**Save your lies WITCH,**"_ the voice replied with a hiss. The crowd booed at the title bestowed on Brock. _"**I will take no more of your treachery. I am well aware that you have been working with the humans. I will not stand for such underhandedness and insubordination in my domain!**_

_"**That goes for all of you!**"_ he added with a yell, staring down all his subjects. _"**If I find **any** of you conspiring with the ground dwellers you shall be **banished** forever!**"_

The lights faded on the scene, the last words of the Sea King seeming to hang in the air.

_"Above the surface, a tempest was brewing, stronger than any storm seen by those above or below."_

The sound of faded voices calling out various commands began to fill the arena. Waves could be heard crashing all around and the sounds of thunder rumbled around them. Pikachu let off a few light flashes of lightning for effect, briefly lighting the stage and then plummeting it into darkness.

The lights finally rose dimly, the spotlight on a ship deck being pummelled by water from every which way and swaying dangerously back and forth. One of the benefits of the new design of the stadium meant that the areas above and below the water could be lit quite separately. They had absolute control of the lighting, and that allowed them to produce various affects.

Ash ran from off stage, in his Philippe costume sans cape. The cape would have been an obvious sign to the audience of his position, but dress rehearsal revealed that it really didn't work in the scene. Hopefully the clothing alone would indicate to the audience that he was the 'prince of the earth' already referred to.

Ash staggered as he adjusted himself to the sway of the ship, grasping hold of the railing to balance himself.

"Prince Philippe," a nearby crewmember commanded upon spotting his liege, "you must return to your quarters. It is not safe for his majesty out here."

Ash shook his head determinedly. This was his favourite scene in the play, mostly because for the rest of them he had to act all lovey-dovey. He had looked in a thesaurus for the best way to describe his acting in the later scenes and sprung upon 'contrived', which was exactly the way he felt as he tried to act like he was in love with Dawn/Serena. At least in this scene he felt like he knew what he was doing.

A piano concerto played in the background, matching the movements of the waves that crashed upon deck.

"You can't expect me to just sit back in my quarters while the rest of you fight out here for my life and your own," Philippe argued with the crewmember. "Forget I'm your prince and tell me what it is I can do to help."

"But your majesty . . ." the man protested, but Philippe cut him off with a quick gesture.

"That's an order sailor," Philippe told him with a smirk. "Tell me how I can help."

"Uh . . . yes sir, I . . . uh . . . need someone to secure the rigging," he replied. Philippe just nodded and got to work.

A voice rang softly through the air, humming a haunting melody amusedly and offering a light giggle. It reminded Ash of their first experience in Saffron with Sabrina, but instead of shuddering his heart began to beat excitedly and he looked almost longingly towards the source of the voice. He had forgotten what a beautiful singing voice Misty had and the affect it had on him. He hoped the audience wouldn't notice his blush.

He continued to busy himself in the task he was allocated, while secretly bracing himself for what came ahead. The big wave would come in a few moments and he would be tossed overboard. Misty apparently saw no need for a stunt double, not to mention that she was completely sadistic and probably took pride in him facing the brunt of Gyarados' special water attacks. An attack that he would be facing in three . . . two . . . one . . .

The massive wave leapt over the side of the ship, hitting Ash dead on and forcing him down into the water. He closed his eyes and let himself sink, secretly activating both the breathing device and a separate device that would hold him in place in the water.

A spotlight followed him down, as the stage boat darkened. The sound of the waves and thunder seemed to fade away and the music, which had played behind the waves was all that was left. It was gentle at first as he plummeted below the surface, but the sound of the music started to become more frantic as he became surrounded by Pokémon.

The Pokémon observed him with suspicion, swirling around him in perfectly coordinated movements. Even Totodile had managed to move perfectly in time with the other creatures, and Ash would have to remind himself to tell the reptile how well he did later.

Serena entered, acting out surprise and confusion upon seeing a ground dweller in their territory. She debated silently her options, remembering the King's earlier decree and decided that she can't let him die.

As she grabbed hold of Philippe, his eyes shot open as directed and he looked upon his saviour with a look of love. At least, Ash _tried_ to gaze upon his saviour with a look of love. He was pretty sure it wasn't right, even as he tried to pretend that he was looking at Misty and not Dawn, but it would have to do.

His eyes snapped shut once again, and with the aid of the Pokémon, he was dragged by Serena to the floating plastic coastline. She watched him for a few moments, but as he began stir she disappeared back into the ocean.

Philippe sat up and looked around him wonder. "How . . .?" he asked aloud. "It must have been a dream . . ."

And on that note, everything went dark and the first act was concluded.

The next act began in a similar uneventful fashion. The first scene was between Serena and the sea witch. Serena went to the sea witch to entreat her help so that she can go see Prince Philippe who she longs desperately to be with. After a musical piece by way of proper introduction, the sea witch told her that 'it' would do as she desired on one condition – that she retrieve from the humans the 'Light of Adam'; the only weapon capable of destroying the Sea King.

Serena agreed to her proposition almost immediately and the audience was enraptured by the 'transformation dance'. It was the most extravagant routine of the whole play and the peak in terms of the choreography. While the audience were distracted, Ash and the stage hands started moving things into place above the sea for the next scene.

Following her transformation (and the warning that she must not enter the water or else the spell will be broken) Philippe and Serena met on land. Dawn had changed into a simple blouse and skirt decorated with seashells in order to remind the audience of her true nature.

Ash cringed inwardly as he tried desperately to feign the right emotions, but he knew it wasn't right. He was probably making a complete fool of himself, and more than likely letting Misty down in the process. He couldn't stop his shoulders from slumping a little at the thought.

Suddenly a scream pierced the air. Ash and Dawn both turned their heads in surprise. That scream was not a part of the script.

_"PiPikachu!"_ cried Pikachu's voice over the loud speaker. _"Pika pipi kachu Pikachupi!"_

"Ash, what's happening?" Dawn whispered quietly as she covered her microphone, trying not to alarm their audience.

"Someone's taken Misty," Ash replied, his thoughts consumed with worry. His voice was loud and carried over the speakers. The audience tensed at the apparent new plot development.

The lights that illuminated the venue began to switch off dramatically, one at a time, forcing them into darkness once again. The sound of mechanics of some sort being put to work filled the silenced arena, and slowly a sliver of light began to form in the ceiling, and the roof of the gym began to pull open.

"Prepare for trouble, from sea to shore!" a female voice suggested dramatically, her voice carrying over the stadium.

"And make it double with a hearty 'arrggghhh'!" a male, although slight effeminate, voice added.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people's within our nation."

Slowly a large wicker basket began to lower itself from the now open roof, and a hot air balloon shaped like a meowth came into view. The balloon itself wore an eye-patch and a red and white stripped bandana, and a rope hung from the basket with a jolly roger fastened midway.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love," the female voice continued.

"To extend our reach to the stars above," the male stated.

"Jesse," the redheaded female said, presenting herself for the audience to view. She was not dressed in her usual team rocket attire, but rather an admiral's uniform with a black plumed hat atop her head. Her hair was not in its usual gelled fashion, but hung – as nature intended and gravity insisted – down her back in voluminous curls.

"James," the lavender haired male said, he too presenting himself in unusual attire. He was wearing a blue and white shirt, stripped horizontally, and a pair of rough looking trousers kept up by a rope. Something about the dirty look he briefly sent Jesse's way and the way the dark forest green of the uniform seemed to almost clash with her hair suggested that James, and not Jesse, was supposed to be wearing that particular costume

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light," Jesse concluded apparently oblivious to James' displeasure.

"Surrender now and prepare to fight," James finished.

"Meowth dat's roight," the feline concluded, jumping up out the basket adorned in much the same way as the balloon.

"What have you done with her?" Ash yelled at them, his eyes narrowed at the lovable criminals.

Jesse gave him a sardonic smirk. "Exactly whom are you referring to _Prince Philippe_?" she asked him, widening her eyes in a picture of innocence.

"Ash," Brock called, trying to get his friends attention, but the boy just continued to glare up at his foe.

"Pikachu, thunder," he commanded coolly.

"Lightning won't do you any good twerp," Jesse replied in an equally cool tone. "Why don't you try again?"

Ash looked around him desperately. He didn't have any of his Pokémon on him right now, only Totodile, and there was no way that Totodile's watergun would reach them all the way up there. For probably the first time in his life, Ash had no idea what he was going to do.

Luckily someone else had the answer.

_"The Prince was desperate as he realized the . . . like hopelessness of the situation,"_ Daisy's voice rang through the stadium, narrating Ash's actions. He tried not to scowl at her words even though they were true. There was nothing he could do to help Misty from where he was.

_"The Rockets were a great enemy of the Prince,"_ she explained calmly to the audience, although something in her voice told Ash that this was much for his benefit as theirs, _"and in their desire to use the Prince to capture all the sea creatures, they had taken something _very dear_ to Prince Philippe. The King of the Sea, seeing the Prince's distress, felt himself overwhelmed with . . . like pity, and offered his aid to the Prince in defeating their common enemy."_

At Daisy's words Ash looked towards Gyarados who gave Ash a subtle nod.

"How about this?" Ash suggested, turning back to face Team Rocket. "Gyarados, water –"

Meowth cut off his command before he could finish. "Not so fast twoirp," Meowth suggested almost cruelly. "I do believe she said we had sumthin' 'very dear' to yous."

Ash gaped as realization dawned upon him. Very slowly something began to appear from the base of the basket, and a thrashing figure was seen hanging from a rope. Misty was now hanging from the balloon dressed in violet coloured gown.

"Let me go!" Ash heard her cry from where she was suspended in mid-air. Her words were not conveyed to the audience, although it was clear to them that she was yelling something. "You stupid rockets! Don't think you'll be getting away with this! Gyarados, hyper-"

Misty's command was cut off by James' high-pitched squeal. "Anything but that," he begged emotionally.

"What is it with you twerps?" Jesse huffed. "I'll make this very clear for you Red," she said smoothly. "If you attack us, you go blasting off with us. Capiche?"

Everyone was silent. "It seems we have an understanding," Jesse intoned. "Now, _your majesty_," she continued dryly, turning her eyes upon Ash, "I think perhaps we can come to some sort of a compromise. You desire the dear Lady Misty, and all we ask for is a few of these little sea creatures to take on our way."

"Sounds fair ta me," the cat grinned. "Whatdaya say, twoirp?"

Ash contemplated their deal. It frightened him that it sounded so reasonable – in fact, he would even go so far as to say that if anyone was being stung by the deal it was Team Rocket. As wrong as it was to even think about accepting it, a few Pokémon in exchange for Misty sounded like one hell of a bargain.

"Don't you even think about it Ash Ketchum!" Misty yelled at him, obviously taking his pause for acquiescence. "If you dare try and do something stupid like that I will seriously kill you! I'll send all my Pokémon to attack you until there's nothing left of you but that stupid hat! And I mean all of them! I'll even have bloody Psyduck gum you to death!"

At the sound of his name, a red light glowed, and Psyduck materialized from his Pokéball . . . in midair. The duck flailed for a moment before falling to the ground and landing upon the shore. Luckily the balloon was only flying about ten feet above the pool so it didn't do too much damage.

"Made a decision yet?" Jesse asked. "This is a limited time offer you know?"

All Ash could do was look desperately to the girl he loved for some kind of inspiration. Anything else he probably would have just given it his all and screwed the consequences, but Misty was far too dear for him to take that sort of risk. There had to be another way.

"Psyduck," Misty said quietly as if in answer to his thoughts. She nodded her head in the direction of the water-phobic Pokémon whose eyes were glowing ever so faintly. "Ash, we need to make Psyduck's headache worse."

A look of understanding passed between them. They needed to ready Psyduck for a psychic attack. It was the only way.

"I've got an idea," Brock told Ash, "just follow my lead." He then turned to address the crowd, raising his voice to be heard. Finally all the years of making himself heard over his nine brothers and sisters were paying off.

"Oh there must be a spell to unbind this fair maiden and best friend of the prince from her ties," he said dramatically. "But I am just one sea witch with limited powers, and you prince, must give up something in return."

The crowd hissed and booed at the original villain, spurred back into life by Brock's words. They had been stunned by the sudden twist and were now eager to see where the show would now take them.

"Silence!" Ash cried, causing them to quiet instantly. He understood that they were trying not to panic crowd or let Team Rocket on to what they were attempting, but Ash had never been that good at improvisation. "What do I say?" he hissed quietly to Brock, finally remembering to cover the microphone as he spoke.

"Just speak from the heart," Brock hissed back.

"Let me hear what this sea witch has to say," Ash said boisterously. "Whatever value you place on her life is nothing compared to the value she has to my own," he added, his voice soft and thoughtful as he followed Brock's advice. He wasn't sure it had come out right, but he was sure that the meaning was clear – to Brock at least. Simply put, he couldn't live without Misty and given the choice, he never would.

"That's what I hoped you would say," Brock replied, smiling knowingly at Ash's revelation. "I propose a trade. One life for the other. You return to us this daughter of the sea," Brock said, indicating towards Dawn who had settled herself down cross-legged on the ground and was watching the scene unfold with the most profound fascination, "and I will conjure some helpers, and return your _friend_" he said this with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows "to thee."

_'What would Philippe do?'_ Ash thought to himself as his eyes moved between Dawn and Misty, acting out some sort of consideration of Brock's proposal. He knew what he wanted to do, but he would have to do it in character so as not to ruin the show.

"Guys hurry," Misty muttered from above. "It's fading," she said, referring to Psyduck's headache.

_'Screw Philippe,'_ Ash thought to himself as he resolved to break character. "Do you promise to save her?" he asked, his eyes landing on Misty once again.

Brock nodded. "But in order for the spell to work, I need all those gathered here to yell the magic word – ee-op," Brock told them, finding a word with a sufficiently grating sound to it. "On the count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three . . . EEEEE-OOOOPPPP!"

The strange new 'word' (sound may be more accurate) screamed through the arena. The audience yelled at the top of their lungs, apparently convinced by Ash's 'acting' and his ridiculously obvious affection for the maiden. The loud, grating noise was too much for poor Psyduck, who was already on the verge of a very massive headache, and his eyes began to glow a brilliant azure as it took hold.

"Psyduck! Confusion!" Misty commanded.

The whole arena glowed as Team Rocket were blasted away by Psyduck's attack. The naively unaware audience applauded the 'special effects'. And as though commanded by the sea witch, Misty's ropes faded away, setting her free . . . in midair.

Ash ran to catch her before she hit the ground.

"They ruined everything," she muttered as she sat in Ash's arms, her words being shared with the enraptured audience via the microphone attached to Ash's lapel. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"I'm glad they did," he replied, his voice low and a blush evident on his cheeks. She looked at him in confusion as their faces moved closer together, eyes locked on one another.

Ash took a deep breath and continued. "Because then I never would have had the courage to do this," he said answering the question in her eyes. Without even giving her a chance to ask him what 'this' was, Ash closed the last bit of space between them and tentatively caught her lips with his own.

Misty instinctively closed her eyes upon feeling the pressure of his lips against her mouth. His kiss was far more timid than the first, but more wonderful this time because it was real. It was Ash and he was kissing her, and it was perfect.

He pulled away after only a couple of seconds and cautiously restored her to an upright position. He was obviously nervous and almost jumped away from her when he realized that he still had his hands upon her waist.

"Wh-what was that for?" she stuttered nervously as she finally found her voice. She tried to catch his eye, but he refused to look in her direction choosing instead to look at the ground beneath their feet. Misty stepped closer, forcing him to raise his chin to meet her eye.

Ash blushed as their gazes met. Her fingers tentatively brushed against her tingling lips, and her eyes widened with emotions that he couldn't begin to name or understand. He resisted the urge to raise his own hand to his lips where her taste still lingered. She was an addiction, he decided; the more he kissed her the more he wanted to kiss her. If she was kind enough to grant him one last kiss before she killed him for his actions, he'd probably die happy.

But then there was something in her eyes, something that looked a lot like hope. There was something in the way she was looking at him that told him that it was ok to continue. He had promised himself that he would tell her just what she meant to him, and there was nothing stopping him now.

"That was for scaring me," he replied simply, nervously taking her hand in his. "You know why else I'm glad they were here?"

Misty shook her head, eyes still wide. Her eyes widened further as Ash pulled her back into his embrace. Her free hand rested lightly upon his chest and she could feel his pulse racing under her touch. It matched her own – every beat sped in sync with her own accelerated heart.

Ash's breath hitched slightly as he caught her scent. She smelt like wildflowers, and spring. She would always be his favourite season.

Finally he spoke, hoping desperately that his voice wasn't betraying him the same way his shaking hands and racing heart were. "Because if it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't have realized _how much_ I love you," he told her honestly. "I would have given up absolutely anything to save you Misty. My whole life would be meaningless without you in it."

"Then I'm glad too," she stated softly, small tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "I'm glad because knowing that you feel the same is the only thing that could make me brave enough to tell you that 'I love you too'."

A shy smile graced her lips, which Ash couldn't help but return, his heart feeling as though it would burst with joy. He couldn't imagine himself being happier than in that moment.

Slowly and with the utmost care, he released her hand from his and moved it to cup her cheek against his palm. Misty's own hands moved so that they were now wrapped around his neck, pulling the two of them closer together. All the while their eyes were locked on one another, the world disappearing around them.

"I love you," they whispered at the same time, their bodies and faces drawing closer and closer to one another. Their lips met as they had before, but his time without tentativeness or fear or desperation. They met passionately, but without any need for urgency – they had their lives ahead of them, and this would surely only be one of many kisses to be shared.

The light began to dim around them as the roof was sealed once again, and the audience began to cheer loudly. Ash and Misty tore themselves apart as the realization hit them that they were not alone and had just professed their love to a very large audience.

_'Shit,'_ Ash thought to himself as he unplugged the microphone from the transmitter in his trousers.

"Before you ask," Brock said walking over, "yes your mic was on the whole time, and yes we did hear _every_ word." He paused so as to give Ash and Misty the chance to groan painfully. "Now the lights are going to come on in a few seconds and I want you guys to take a bow and pretend like that was all a part of the performance."

They both nodded silently at his suggestion. As the lights returned, Ash took Misty's hand in his own and together they turned to face the crowd. Brock and Dawn flanked them on either side, waving animatedly as they received the applause.

Bowing down beside him, Brock gave him a quick side glance and an almost sly smile.

"By the way," he added, "it's about bloody time."

~ CURTAINS CLOSE ~


	4. I'll Tell You What's in the Daily Mail

Epilogue time! I finally got the ending I wanted. Thanks everyone for the reviews and encouragement. Not sure how Brock managed to get the final word in so many times, but here it is, short and sweet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

The Show Must Go On – I'll Tell You What's in the Daily News

_**Encore: Guys and Dolls**_

"It's here," Daisy called musically as she entered the room. She made a face as she realized her presence wasn't enough to faze the couple making out enthusiastically on the couch. She wacked the two with her newspaper like a naughty growlithe puppy.

"Thank god," Dawn cried gratefully, her facial expression similar to Daisy's. "It's enough to make me want to revisit my breakfast."

"Is the like review in?" Violet asked, entering the room with her twin sister before Ash and Misty could retort. Brock followed on their heels like the lovesick fool he was.

Daisy sent him a brief glare that silently told him that it was his job to supervise the newly coupled teens and that he had failed in that respect. Brock, having been subjected to Misty's fierce stares for almost three years, was unaffected by this.

"I don't want to know," Misty proclaimed loudly. "As far as I'm concerned it was a success," she added softly, sharing an adoring gaze with her best friend-cum-boyfriend.

"It says it like wasn't even in the same league as 'The Misty Mermaid'," Violet said almost snootily, pre-emptively cutting off what would have led to more emotional scarring for the thirteen-year old Dawn.

"Give me that," Misty said, jumping out of her seat and snatching the paper from her sisters. She read the title out loud: "More box office success for the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean."

"O_o," Dawn said, eyes going wide. "What does it say about me?"

Misty frowned, unsure of how to break it to the young girl. "It says 'Dawn Berlitz, who played the part of the mermaid grabbed the audiences attention early in the show, but the youth of this actor made her unconvincing as the romantic lead, making it easier for the fickle audience to shift their attention to the other love interest introduced later in the story – much like the prince.'

"I'm sorry –" Misty started to say, but Dawn cut her off with an excited squeal.

"This is so awesome! My name is in the newspaper! I've got to call my mom!" she cried as she ran out of the room.

"What about me, Myst?" Ash asked with a smile, giving her a cheeky wink.

Misty continued to read aloud, a slight blandness to her voice although she smiled cheekily at the boy in question. "'Ash Ketchum's portrayal of Prince Philippe is inconsistent playing shallow and contrived one moment, and heart-felt truism the next. Clearly a genius move by the director of this piece to counterpoint the difference between Philippe's true love for Lady Misty and his false love for the mermaid.'"

Brock laughed loudly at this. "Only Ash could act so badly they thought it was on purpose," he joked.

"I wasn't that bad?" Ash asked, looking to his girlfriend for some sympathy.

"You were," Misty admitted with a grimace. "But that's how I knew you meant it when you said you loved me," she added cheerfully, kissing his forehead reassuringly.

Brock picked up the discarded newspaper as the two settled back down on the couch, wrapped in one another's arms. He skimmed the piece and sniggered as he came to a particularly interesting part.

"It says here that 'the Sensational Sisters have brought back the mysterious villain's who debuted in the final performance of 'The Misty Mermaid' almost four years earlier'," he commented with a smile. "They got a pretty good review, actually. Maybe they should consider changing professions."

"Skip to the end," Daisy suggested. "It's the second to like last paragraph."

Brock did as he was told. "'Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower's incredible on-stage and off-stage chemistry once again had the audience enraptured' . . ." he trailed off, unable to withhold his laughter. "Once again?!" he chuckled loudly. "I wonder if there was anyone out there that didn't already suspect it. And that one wasn't even a romance?!"

Even Ash and Misty couldn't help but laugh at that comment.

"Oh crap," Ash muttered as his eyes widened in terror. "What newspaper is that in?"

"Kanto Times," Brock replied, flashing the newspaper at Ash and revealing the coloured photograph of Ash and Misty staring adoringly into one another's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Uh . . . it's nothing," Ash replied sheepishly, unwinding his arm from Misty in order to scratch the back of his neck nervously. "It's just that . . . well, I-"

He began to explain, but was cut off as Dawn cried his name from the other room. "Ash!" she called. "You better get here quick. Your mom's on the phone, and she seems pretty pissed about something."

"You didn't tell her?" Misty asked accusingly, pushing herself away so that she could glare at him.

"I guess I was a little preoccupied?" he offered helplessly, the inflection in his voice bearing his downfall.

"And exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

"Uh . . . well . . . I think I better go tell Mom the good news," he suggested quickly, jumping up from his seat. He raced towards the next room, choosing the lesser of two evils – sure his mom was probably going to kill him, but that was nothing compared to what Misty would do to him.

"Oh no you don't!" she screamed, propelling herself from the couch and chasing after him. "You come back here Ash Ketchum and explain yourself before I mallet you to death! You hear me!"

Brock and the Sensational Sisters just shook their heads as their wide eyes stared at the couch previously occupied by the two.

"I think I like, liked them better when they were making out," Daisy suggested, groaning almost painfully.

"I think _I_ liked them better when they were like angsting over their unrequited feelings," Violet countered with a shake of her head.

"I think I liked it better when they were like denying their feelings and being all cute and blushy," Lily offered in memory of the good old days before the hormones took over.

Brock just sighed happily.

"God I missed this."

~ THE END ~


End file.
